Portella della Ginestra massacre

Portella della Ginestra massacre
Mural of the Portella della Ginestra massacre
Location	In the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi at the top of the pass leading to San Giuseppe Jato
Date	May 1, 1947 10:15
Target	May Day celebrations of communist Sicilian peasants
Attack type	Massacre
Deaths	11 killed, 27 wounded. The victims were: Margherita Clesceri, Giorgio Cusenza, Giovanni Megna, Francesco Vicari, Vito Allotta, Serafino Lascari, Filippo Di Salvo, Giuseppe Di Maggio, Castrense Intravaia, Giovanni Grifò and Vincenza La Fata.
Perpetrators	Salvatore Giuliano and band of Sicilian separatists.
Motive	Intimidation of peasant movement and their drive for land reform in the context of a campaign against the Italian Communist Party after a surprising victory in preceding elections.

The Portella della Ginestra massacre was one of the more violent acts in the history of modern Italian politics, when 11 people were killed and 27 wounded during May Day celebrations in Sicily on May 1, 1947, in the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi. Those held responsible were the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano and his band – although their motives and intentions are still a matter of controversy.

From May 1893, during the period of the Fasci Siciliani, the peasants of the neighbouring towns of Piana degli Albanesi, San Giuseppe Jato and San Cipirello used to gather at Portella della Ginestra for the Labour Day celebrations at the initiative of the physician and peasant leader Nicola Barbato, who used to speak to the crowd from a big rock that was later called "Barbato's Stone". The tradition was interrupted during the Fascist period and resumed after the fall of the Fascist regime.

The massacre took place twelve days after a surprise victory by the People’s Block (Blocco del popolo) – a coalition of the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) and the Italian Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano, PSI) – in the elections for the Constituent Assembly of the autonomous region of Sicily on April 20–21, 1947. The People’s Block obtained 29.13 percent of the vote, while the Christian Democrat Party got 20.52% and the Qualunquist and Monarchist came third and fourth.

With national elections set for October 1947, the leftist win in Sicily created speculation that a coalition led by Palmiro Togliatti might bring Italy under Communist rule. In Sicily, the communist leader on Sicily, Girolamo Li Causi, pledged to redistribute large land holdings, but to preserve any of 100 hectares (247 acres) or less.